Page 195 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

“Can I just…?” I stare at Irish as he motions his head in the direction of Ace’s grave. I step aside and let him approach. He reads the words aloud.

“Husband. Father. Son. Friend. Biker.”

Tears prick my eyes. I walk away to give him some privacy. Irish knew Ace. It’s only right that I allow him time with him without eavesdropping on his conversation.

I’m not alone for long.

“It’s a pretty view.”

I nod. “Everything you can see in front of you is Rising. My pop would have loved this view. It’s why I picked it. Ace loved it too.”

A sob of self-pity escapes me. I welcome his strong arms as they wrap around me, the scent of his spicy cologne offering me its own blanket of comfort.

“I’ve missed you, Miss Jones.”

I sob-chuckle at his familiar pompous tone. “I’ve missed you too, Mr. O’Connell.”

I look up at him, and he presses a kiss against my forehead before raising one eyebrow. “You must be feeling generous today. It’s definitely a marked improvement onasshole.”

I chuckle again as he pulls me closer grateful that I no longer feel so alone.

Jaine’s Home, Rising, California

I’m not sure how I feel about bringing Eoin and Irish to my childhood home. I’ve always kept Rising separate from New York. I’m a different person there. Here, I’m just plain Jaine Jones—a local girl who grew up and married a local boy.

Ace’s old lady. Ace’s wife. Ace’s widow.

My family home is nothing like the O’Connell’s, but then their mansion-like property would look completely out of place in this vast space.

I park Ace’s hog where he always used to. My crushed Softail is right beside it. The metal may be twisted, but it still has a heart, so there it will forever remain.

My eyes graze over the ranch-style property's white walls and dark, red-tiled roof. It’s set in its own fifty acres of nothingness, and right now, every inch is covered in the white poppies that grow wild in these parts, their sweet floral notes filling the air.

The white-painted porch still has the same rocking chair my pop used to sit in alongside the little two-seater swing, all fenced off by the same old wooden railing.

I step down from the hog and look around, trying to see it through their eyes. The place I lived from ages seven to eighteen and the place I ran to when I was given no choice but to leave New York.

I watch them step out of the SUV to take in their surroundings.

Irish inhales, then nods like he’s just discovered some great secret.

“This is your scent, Jaine. I always thought it was a perfume or lotion, but it’s this. It surrounds you wherever you go.”

Tears prick my eyes. “It’s because it’s in my blood. Rising is my home. It always will be.”

“Finian wasn’t born here?”

I shake my head. “He was born in Nevada, in the same hospital I was born in, and in the same hospital, Raf Flores died in. The circle of life took place that night. They crossed over at exactly the same time. For that reason, I like to think a little bit of Raf lives on in Fin.”

“And JJ?” Eoin looks at me. He adores my little boy. I love that he’s so curious about him.

“JJ was born in Rising. In the same medical center that his daddy was born in, and the same one that he….” I swallow thickly. I don’t finish the sentence. There’s no need. We all know what happened to Ace. “I’ll show you on the way to the clubhouse. I need to go there today. I promised Clay I would make a start clearing Ace’s room… if that’s okay.”

“What are those tracks, Jaine? All of those crisscrossing the land?” Irish immediately deviates away from the melancholy moment. He points at the one nearest the house.

I smile as I’m suddenly flooded with memories. “Ace and I made those. The grass was stomped down over the years by our ever-growing feet. It never did grow back.”

Once we reach the house, I unlock and open the door. Nothing’s changed. It’s all still as it was just before I left for New York. Time has stood still here. I needed it to. The property is clean inside and tidy out. Jethro and his wife, Matilda, stop by most days. She’s currently heavily pregnant with baby number four.

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